Ta™  - 


THE  WORLD  OUTLOOK 
FOR  RELIGION 

w 

A Series  of  Five  Outline  Sermons 


I.  The  Modern  World-wide  Challenge  to  all 
Religion. 

II.  Religion  and  the  World-wide  Spread  of  Mod- 
ern Science. 

III.  Religion  and  the  World-wide  Growth  of  Indus- 

trialism. 

IV.  Religion  and  the  World-wide  Unsettling  of 

Moral  Standards. 

V.  The  World-wide  Opportunity  and  Task  of  the 
Christian  Religion. 


THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


150  FIFTH  AVENUE 


NEW  YORK  CITY 


INTRODUCTORY  STATEMENT 

This  series  of  five  outline  sermons  is  based  upon  the  reports  in 
eight  volumes  of  the  enlarged  meeting  of  the  International  Mission- 
ary Council  held  in  Jerusalem  in  the  spring  of  1928.  The  outlines 
were  prepared  in  England  by  a representative  committee  interested 
in  the  World  Mission  of  Christianity  and  have  been  revised  slightly 
and  adapted  to  meet  American  church  life. 

It  was  our  thought  that  perhaps  some  pastors  might  like  to 
have  these  outlines  before  them  for  reference  in  preparing  a some- 
what similar  series  of  sermons  which  they  would  deliver  from  their 
own  pulpits.  They  will  be  found  very  suggestive. 

We  hope  that  they  may  be  of  help  in  getting  before  our  people 
the  challenging  call  of  the  missionary  enterprise  in  our  day. 


SUGGESTED  READINGS  FOR  THE  SERMON  OUTLINES 

I.  Acts  XVII,  16-31. 

II.  Deuteronomy  VIII. 

III.  St.  Matthew  XXV,  31-46. 

IV.  Philippians  I,  3-1 1 and  IV,  4-9. 

V.  Ephesians  II,  11-22. 


I.  THE  MODERN  WORLD-WIDE  CHALLENGE  TO  ALL 

RELIGIONS 


(Read  the  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report.  Vol.  I,  pp.  230273,  329- 
341,  401.) 

A supremely  great  day  in  the  world’s  history.  Cardinal  fact  in 
world  of  to-day  is  CHANGE.  Upheaval  and  movement  everywhere 
and  in  all  aspects  of  life.  (The  old  phrase  “The  Unchanging  East” 
has  become  quite  meaningless.)  Colossal  changes  of  last  100  years 
affecting  not  a nation,  not  a continent,  but  a world. 

The  Changed  Situation 

How  fares  it  with  Cause  of  God  in  changing  world  ? Christian- 
ity obviously  a missionary  religion.  What  has  it  to  meet  to-day? 
Eighteen  years  ago,  International  Missionary  Conference  in  Edin- 
burgh ; its  volume  on  the  Christian  Message  made  up  largely  of  sec- 
tions on  presentation  of  Christianity  to  great  non-Christian  religions, 
Hinduism,  Islam,  etc.  In  those  days  missionary  work  largely 
thought  of  in  terms  of  converting  to  our  faith  adherents  of  other 
religions.  To-day  a remarkable  change.  Jerusalem  volume  on  the 
Christian  Message  gives  pages  to  these  different  religions,  but  also 
pages  to  a new  danger  which  confronts  all  religions  alike — the 
menace  of  SECULARISM. 

To-day  all  the  world  over  we  have  to  think  not  only  of  winning 
to  Christianity  the  followers  of  other  religions,  but  also  of  winning 
those  who  do  not  want  any  religion  at  all.  Menace  of  Secularism 
world-wide.  Met  in  China  and  Japan,  India  and  Turkey,  Britain 
and  France,  Russia  and  America. 

What  Secularism  Is 

So  the  great  challenge  to  Christianity  to-day  is  an  entirely  God- 
less life,  a belief  that  a perfectly  worthy  life  for  a man  or  for  a 
nation  can  be  found  without  God ; that  God  is  irrelevant  to  the  real 
issues  of  life.  It  may  be  a belief  that  science  can  enable  men  to 
conquer  his  surroundings,  and  psychology  enable  him  to  master  his 
own  nature.  It  may  be  a conviction  that  in  this  world  of  great 
poverty  the  only  thing  that  matters  is  to  improve  man’s  material  lot. 
It  may  be  a belief  that  nothing  matters  but  comfort  and  pleasure. 
The  fact  to  be  noted  is  that  religious  faith  is  breaking  down  under 
the  strain  of  modern  conditions  almost  all  over  the  world.  We  are 
faced  with  a large  scale  drift  away  from  organized  religion.  The 

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man  who  now  cares  for  none  of  these  things,  though  his  father  was 
once  a pillar  of  the  Church,  is  a problem  common  to  all  religions. 
One  well-informed  observer  said  at  Jerusalem,  “The  belief  that  the 
world  can  get  on  without  God  is  becoming  common  to  educated  men 
the  world  over.” 

Illustrations 

Japan:  Count  Okuma,  a non-Christian  Japanese  leader,  said 
some  years  ago,  “Most  educated  Japanese  are  agnostics.”  (See  also 
Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  i86ff.)  During  the  war  the 
President  of  the  Imperial  University  in  Kyoto  said,  “How  to  create 
a stronger  aspiration  after  faith  among  the  people  is  one  of  the 
pressing  problems  of  Japan.  . . . Religion  is  an  atmosphere  to 
live  in.  What  Japan  lamentably  lacks  is  this  atmosphere.” 

China:  The  International  Review  of  Missions.  Summary  for 

1927  says,  “Different  observers  in  China  report  a decay  in  the  part 
played  in  the  life  of  the  people  by  religion.  Even  Confucius  is  at- 
tacked by  radical  thought  in  student  circles,  and  irreligious  and  anti- 
religious  sentiments  are  widely  expressed.”  A modern  Chinese 
slogan  is  said  to  be  “Science  and  Socialism  can  save  the  State.” 

A well-educated  Chinese  leader  has  recently  said,  “The  God- 
idea  is  now  discredited  by  educated  people.  We  do  not  believe  in  a 
personal  God  any  more.” 

India:  Principal  Mackenzie’s  Speech  at  Jerusalem.  (Jerusalem 
Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  296.) 

South  America:  (See  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  334.) 

Moslem  Lands:  “The  Atheism  of  Christian  lands  has  affected 
the  Moslem  world,”  said  by  Dr.  Watson  of  Cairo  at  Jerusalem. 
(Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  330.) 

The  last  volume  of  Church  of  England  “World  Call  Reports” 
states  of  Moslem  lands : “There  is  a notable  disillusionment  with 
Islam  as  a system ; this  is  resulting  in  rather  widespread  agnosticism 
more  marked  than  in  1925.  Missionaries  are  feeling  that  the 
greatest  obstacle  among  the  intelligentsia  is  not  so  much  Islam  as  a 
secular  way  of  life.  Everywhere  in  the  Near  East  after  Ramadan 

1928  one  heard  of  the  wholesale  breaking  of  the  fact,  and  a refusal 
to  obey  the  command  of  the  Prophet.  This  represents  a break  away 
from  what  had  hitherto  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  pillars  of 
Mohammedanism,  a decree  of  God.” 

Africa:  Article  in  London  Times,  October  30,  1928,  says: 
“There  is  a widespread  feeling  among  the  people  of  West  Africa 

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that  the  fetichism  of  their  fathers  is  a discredited  system ; it  has 
been  put  to  the  test  and  found  wanting,  and  they  are  themselves  in 
search  of  a new  and  better  religion.  Religiously  regarded,  West 
Africa  is  in  that  perilous  position  where  old  sanctions  of  morality 
have  been  destroyed,  and  a new  and  higher  sanction  does  not  yet 
effectively  operate.” 

What  Does  it  All  Mean? 

For  another  description  of  almost  world-wide  state  of  things, 
see  striking  letter  by  Professor  William  Hung,  a Methodist,  Vice- 
President  of  Yenching  University,  China,  quoted  by  Speer  (Je- 
rusalem Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  279-281).  Note  the  fourfold 
description  of  what  Christianity  has  to  face  to-day : ‘‘scientific 
agnosticism,  materialistic  determinism,  political  fascism  and  moral 
iconoclasm.”  Some  experienced  missionaries  would  say  this  letter 
is  an  overstatement;  yet  that  it  could  be  written  at  all,  and  by  a 
Chinese  Christian,  is  significant.  Probably  multitudes  in  the  world’s 
villages  still  content  with  old  faiths.  But  educated  people  are  drifting 
away  from  religions ; and,  especially  in  East,  it  is  educated  men  who 
count  for  most  in  leadership.  A desperately  serious  situation.  Noth- 
ing can  hold  back  invasion  of  Africa  and  the  East  by  Western  educa- 
tion, Western  industrialism,  Western  political  ideas  and  Western 
science.  Nor  should  we  wish  to  hold  it  back.  There  is  much  in 
these  that  is  very  good.  They  can  be  a gift  of  God  to  world.  It  is 
not  our  secular  civilization  that  is  the  enemy  of  religion,  but  the 
secular  mind  which  it  often  produces.  Yet  these  good  things  from 
the  West  have  inevitably  corroding  effect  on  ancient  religions.  The 
destruction  of  old  faiths  and  old  standards  of  ethics  is  inevitable. 

Our  Responsibility 

We  who  are  part  of  Western  Christendom  cannot  escape  share 
of  responsibility.  The  wave  of  secularism  which  is  engulfing  the 
East  had  its  origins  in  the  West  and  built  up  much  of  its  strength 
there.  We  have  failed  because  we  have  been  so  much  carried  away 
by  material  and  scientific  progress  of  last  100  years.  We  have  not 
kept  the  material  side  of  life  in  its  proper  subordination  to  the 
spiritual.  We  have  professed  Christian  faith  and  far  too  often  lived 
by  largely  material  standards.  We  have  not  shown  the  East  how  to 
meet  these  modem  forces.  The  Christian  Church  must  admit  a 
share  of  failure. 


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Conclusions 

Situation  affords  tremendous  opportunity  and  challenge  to 
Christian  church  which  believes  in  its  world  mission.  The  decay  of 
other  religions  may  give  Christ  a new  chance.  That  decay  leaves  a 
vacuum  which  can  only  be  filled  by  Christ.  In  SOME  cases  the 
vacuum  is  consciously  recognized.  See  pathetic  appeal  of  President 
of  Amoy  University  (Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  61-62)  : 
“Is  it  not  possible  for  the  Christian  Missions,”  etc.  Obviously  other 
religions  cannot  stand  up  to  modern  world  conditions.  It  is  for  us  to 
show  that  our  religion  can. 

The  frontiers  of  missionary  enterprise  have  changed.  We  are 
all  in  the  front  line.  No  distinction  between  Home  Church  and 
Foreign  Missions.  The  fight  is  one  and  the  field  is  one.  Home  base 
and  Foreign  Field  no  longer  geographical  terms.  We  are  all  bearing 
a part.  (Note  the  absurdity  of  a once  popular  objection  to  Foreign 
Missions,  that  we  have  no  right  to  disturb  the  ancient  faiths  of  the 
East.  It  is  not  Christians  who  are  disturbing  these ; it  is  the  modern 
world.)  Is  a view  of  life  which  ignores  God  enough  for  the  support 
of  any  civilization?  The  issue  to-day  is  Christ  or  Secularism.  This 
is  not  a battle  for  missionaries  only,  but  for  the  whole  church.  Any- 
one, anywhere,  who  so  lives  as  to  show  that  God  counts,  is  taking  his 
share  in  the  conflict.  Anyone,  anywhere,  whose  life  shows  the  value 
of  spiritual  realities  is  a missionary.  The  whole  idea  of  a spiritual 
reality  is  being  challenged  all  over  the  world.  Where  do  we  stand? 
Are  spiritual  things  real  to  us ; or  are  we  living  as  if  man  could  live 
by  bread  alone,  as  if  man’s  life  consisted  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  that  he  possesses?  Does  religion  mean  anything  vital  to  us, 
anything  which  we  should  like  to  share  with  others?  Could  we 
truthfully  say  for- ourselves  that  the  Jerusalem  Meeting  has  said  on 
our  behalf : “We  cannot  live  without  Christ  and  we  cannot  bear  to 
think  of  men  living  without  him.  We  cannot  be  content  to  live  in  a 
world  that  is  un-Christ-like”?  (Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  406-407.) 

II.  RELIGION  AND  THE  WORLD-WIDE  SPREAD  OF 
MODERN  SCIENCE 

(Read  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  236-251  and  368- 

371*) 

Science  and  Christianity 

Most  American  ministers  know  the  man  who  has  religious 

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difficulties  because  he  has  come  under  the  influence  of  modern 
science.  Sometimes  merely  crude  difficulty  of  medical  student  who 
“cannot  find  a soul  in  the  dissecting  room.”  Sometimes  he  finds 
teaching  of  science  contradicts  what  was  believed  to  be  teaching  of 
Bible  (Genesis  versus  Evolution,  etc.)  : sometimes  scientific  study  of 
the  Bible  seems  to  have  undermined  basis  of  religion.  Sometimes 
difficulty  goes  deeper.  A world  apparently  regulated  by  scientific 
law  is  one  in  which  many  find  it  difficult  to  find  room  for  God. 
Psychology  now  seems  to  be  answering  some  questions  which  were 
once  the  province  of  religion.  This  man  and  his  difficulties  not 
peculiar  to  Christianity;  problem  to  every  other  religion  in  world. 
Our  endless  discussions  on  “Science  and  Religion”  show  that  the  rise 
of  modern  science  has  made  some  real  difficulties  for  Christian 
people.  Partly  because  foolish  things  have  been  said  on  both  sides ; 
some  dogmatic  religionists  have  tried  to  hold  up  scientific  investiga- 
tion in  interests  of  a particular  view  of  Biblical  inspiration;  some 
dogmatic  scientists  have  believed  that  their  theories  could  explain 
everything.  (See  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  368-370.) 
Such  things  less  often  said  to-day,  but  some  strain  and  difficulty  re- 
mains in  many  minds. 

Science  is  World-Wide 

Now  to-day  western  scientific  thought  is  world  wide.  Educa- 
tion is  one  of  world’s  post-war  enthusiasms,  and  higher  education 
in  all  countries  to-day  means  largely  western  education.  The 
Azhar  University  in  Cairo,  the  old  spiritual  and  educational  center 
of  the  Moslem  world,  until  very  recently  remained  mediaeval  in  all  its 
curriculum,  being  largely  confined  to  the  study  of  Islamics.  To-day 
the  last  stronghold  of  mediaeval  education  has  given  way ; the  Azhar 
University  is  to  admit  modern  western  subjects  into  its  curriculum. 
The  higher  education  of  the  world  is  largely  westernized,  and  west- 
ern education  means  increasingly  scientific  education.  Modern  science 
is  being  studied  with  enthusiasm  in  the  great  universities  and  schools 
of  Africa  and  the  East.  Modern  science  has  become  a passion  with 
educated  youth  the  world  over.  (See  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report, 
Vol.  I,  pp  246-247,  especially  this,  “The  students  of  Japan,  China 
and  India,  are  at  the  present  moment  in  a striking  way  under  the 
spell  of  science.  ...  I am  inclined  to  think  that  there  is  no  one 
thing  which  more  impresses  a man  as  he  travels  through  country 
after  country  around  the  world  than  the  spell  which  science  has  cast 
over  the  youth  of  the  world  to-day.”)  In  East  and  West  alike 

9 


science  has  become  the  chief  intellectual  interest  and  influence  among 
educated  people.  In  many  cases  it  dominates  all  other  interests  and 
in  some  cases  it  seems  to  render  man  incapable  of  any  other  kind  of 
thought  than  the  scientific. 

Science  and  Other  Religions 

So  the  scientific  spirit  is  in  contact  with  every  great  non-Chris- 
tian religion  in  the  world.  Imagine  what  this  must  mean.  It  is 
difficult  for  us  to  be  fair  to  other  religions.  Yet  we  may  fairly  say 
they  have  on  the  whole  been  more  credulous,  more  superstitious, 
more  out  of  touch  with  modern  thought,  than  is  Christianity  as  we 
know  it;  therefore  definitely  more  open  to  attack  from  scientific 
thought.  Scientific  spirit,  the  foe  of  all  obscurantism  and  credulity 
wherever  found,  and  as  it  fights  these  in  the  non-Christian  religions, 
it  inevitably  brings  discredit  on  what  is  good  in  them.  We  may 
expect  the  spread  of  science  to  prove  more  damaging  to  other  reli- 
gions than  to  Christianity.  This  is  one  of  the  outstanding  causes  of 
the  world-wide  growth  of  secularism.  “The  immense  spread  of  the 
scientific  interpretation  of  the  universe  has  proved  to  be  the  greatest 
of  all  the  disintegrating  influences  in  the  field  of  religion.” 

The  Value  of  Science 

Modern  science  is  an  inevitable  and  increasingly  important  fac- 
tor in  life  of  world.  One  for  which  God  is  to  be  thanked.  Immense 
real  gain  to  world’s  life,  and  from  it  the  church  has  something  to 
learn  in  its  passion  for  truth,  its  loyalty  to  facts,  its  patience  in  the 
study  of  facts,  its  willingness  to  abandon  theories  that  are  disproved. 
We  in  the  church  need  to  learn  a keener  conscience  about  truth ; re- 
membering that  “truth,  by  whomsoever  spoken,  is  of  God,”  remem- 
bering Tertullian’s  fine  saying  that  Jesus  claimed  to  be  “not  tradition 
but  truth.” 

Christianity  and  Science 

The  position  of  Christianity  in  relation  to  scientific  thought 
differs  from  that  of  many  other  great  religions  of  the  world,  (i) 
The  Christian  religion  is  based  on  an  historic  life.  The  scientific 
historical  study  of  the  Bible  has  given  us  this  gain,  that  it  has  gone 
far  to  establish  historicity  of  Jesus.  He  is  a fact.  Life  has  been 
lived  like  that.  The  values  we  see  in  Jesus  have  been  actually  lived 
out  in  this  world.  (2)  It  was  actually  within  Christendom  that 
modern  science  took  its  rise.  (See  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol. 
I,  p.  379.)  “The  great  advance  of  natural  science  has  taken  place 


10 


in  Christendom  and  not  outside  of  it.  There  is  a kinship  between 
the  scientific  impulse  and  the  essential  elements  in  Christianity  which 
explains  how  science  could  win  its  triumphs  in  Christendom,  and  at 
least  inspires  the  hope  that  it  will  not  destroy  but  strengthen  Chris- 
tian faith.” 

No  Real  Conflict 

We  need  to  reassert  to-day  that  there  is  no  essential  irreconcil- 
able opposition  between  the  scientific  and  the  spiritual  interpretation 
of  the  universe.  In  no  sense  has  Christianity  to  contend  against 
science.  It  is  not  science  which  is  the  enemy  of  faith,  but  a material- 
istic philosophy  which  is  a quite  illegitimate  inference  from  some 
scientific  studies.  It  can  safely  be  said  that  the  best  modern  scientists 
are  in  no  sense  dogmatic  materialists  now.  They  would  admit  that 
there  are  spheres  where  the  scientific  method  does  not  apply,  such  as 
aesthetic  and  moral  values.  And  many  of  them  would  admit  that 
science  and  religion  are  tw'o  different  ways  of  approaching  reality, 
neither  of  which  may  disparage  the  other,  each  of  which  has  its  own 
rights.  They  do  not  conflict  any  more  than  a submarine  and  an 
aeroplane  conflict,  unless  one  or  (the  other  of  them  leaves  its  proper 
sphere. 

The  Limitations  of  Science 

Further,  science  has  enormously  increased  man’s  powers,  but 
science  as  such  has  nothing  to  say  as  to  the  use  which  men  may 
choose  to  make  of  those  enhanced  powers.  The  president  of  the 
British  Association  in  1925  declared  in  his  presidential  address : “The 
province  of  science  is  vast,  but  has  its  limits ; it  can  have  no  pre- 
tensions to  improve  human  nature;  it  may  alter  the  environment, 
multiply  the  resources,  widen  the  intellectual  prospect,  but  it  cannot 
fairly  be  asked  to  bear  the  responsibility  for  the  use  which  is  made 
of  these  gifts.  That  must  be  determined  by  other,  and,  let  us  admit 
it,  higher  considerations.”  The  increase  in  man’s  powers  due  to 
science  demands  a corresponding  increase  in  moral  responsibility. 
We  must  learn  to  grow  in  character  as  we  have  grown  in  knowledge 
of  and  power  over  our  material  surroundings.  Without  a growth  of 
control  of  passions  and  without  a deeper  vision  of  the  will  of  God 
for  the  world,  man’s  increased  ability  will  only  make  it  possible  for 
him  to  do  harm  on  a much  larger  scale.  Maxim  Gorky  tells  a story 
of  how  he  addressed  a Russian  peasant  audience  on  the  subject  of 
science  and  modern  inventions,  and  at  the  end  one  said  to  him,  “Yes, 


11 


we  are  taught  to  fly  in  the  air  like  birds,  and  to  swim  in  the  water 
like  fishes,  but  how  to  live  on  the  earth  we  don’t  know.” 

Conclusion 

Hence  the  great  obligation  of  all  of  us  who  live  in  this  scientific 
age  so  to  live  as  to  show  our  belief  that  for  us  Jesus  Christ  has  the 
real  meaning  and  values  of  life.  For  us  the  true  meaning  of  life  is 
not  found  in  explanations  of  how  life  grew  and  developed,  but  in 
loyalty  to  truth  and  goodness,  in  loving  service  of  others,  in  “walking 
humbly  with  our  God.” 

III.  RELIGION  AND  THE  WORLD-WIDE  SPREAD  OF 
MODERN  INDUSTRIALISM  . 

(Read  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  255-257.  Those 
who  have  access  to  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  V,  will  find 
valuable  material  in  the  Reverend  William  Paton’s  long  paper  and 
in  Mr.  R.  H.  Tawney’s  address.) 

Suggested  Bible  Readings:  Matthew  XXV,  31-48;  Luke  X, 
25-37- 

Industrialism  and  Religion  in  America 

Industrial  development  in  America  has  been  one  cause  of  sag- 
ging of  religious  interest,  and  drift  away  from  churches  in  this 
country.  For  several  reasons,  including  these:  (1)  The  interests  of 
large  scale  industry  and  the  opportunities  offered  to  men  at  the  top 
have  made  the  interests  of  religion  seem  tame  by  comparison.  (2) 
Success  of  modern  industry  in  production  of  material  things,  and 
profits  it  offers  to  successful,  have  made  some  people  feel  that 
material  prosperity  is  the  only  thing  worth  aiming  at ; the  industrial 
order  suggests  that  a man’s  life  consists  in  the  abundance  of  things 
he  possesses.  (3)  Industry  seems  to  demand  of  many  that,  if  they 
are  to  succeed,  they  must  forget  principles  of  Christ;  rather  than  try 
to  follow  two  conflicting  ethical  standards,  they  give  up  open  pro- 
fession of  religion.  (4)  Some  eager  social  reformers  identify 
church  with  system  which  treats  workers  as  less  than  free  and  full 
personalities,  and  so  indignantly  hold  aloof.  (5)  A few  passionately 
keen  people,  touched  by  dreary  but  clear-cut  creed  of  Communism, 
believe  economic  forces  the  only  ultimate  realities,  and  religion  the 
opiate  of  the  people.  (6)  Others,  not  going  nearly  so  far,  feel  keenly 
the  sufferings  of  the  poor,  and  with  an  enthusiasm  which  is  rebuke 


12 


to  us  declare  that  the  only  thing  that  matters  is  to  change  economic 
conditions,  believing  that  for  this  religion  is  irrelevant.  (7)  Some 
accompaniments  of  industrialism  as  we  know  it  are  definitely  un- 
Christian,  e.  g.  slums,  sweated  labor,  unemployment,  bad  housing. 

Industrialism  World-Wide  Now 

Modem  industry  suddenly  taken  whole  world  as  parish : “A  cen- 
tury ago  industrialism  was  a British,  half  a century  ago  a European 
and  an  American  phenomenon.  To-day  it  is  world  wide.”  (See 
Tawney,  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  V.)  Suddenness  with 
which  modem  history  has  burst  upon  great  nations  of  East,  which 
were  wholly  unprepared  for  it,  a potent  cause  of  world-wide  secular- 
ism. Important  to  realize  how  rapid  the  spread  of  industry  in  East 
has  been.  Between  1902  and  1920  the  number  of  factory  workers 
in  India  increased  fourfold.  In  Japan  in  1883  there  were  125 
modern  factories,  in  1921  there  were  71,000.  In  China  in  1900  there 
were  two  modern  cotton  mills,  in  1922  over  seventy.  Note  that  all 
this  has  come  to  countries  where  there  was  not  even  that  modest 
check  upon  evil  accompaniments  which  Christian  public  opinion 
in  this  country  has  been  able  to  impose.  What  has  gone  East  is  not 
industrialism  as  we  now  know  it,  but  industrialism  as  it  was  in  this 
country  before  enlightened  public  opinion  began  to  put  check  upon 
evil  effects  it  has  too  often  produced  when  unregulated. 

Illustrations 

“The  saddest  of  the  accompaniments  of  modern  industry  in 
India  has  been  the  vile  housing  of  the  operatives  in  some  of  the 
great  cities.  ...  In  Bombay  the  average  number  of  rooms  to  the 
family  is  one.  . . . The  infantile  death  rate  in  Bombay  is  sixty- 
six  per  cent.”  (See  Paton  in  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  V.) 

The  Shanghai  Municipal  Council  appointed  a Commission  in 
1923  to  investigate  conditions  in  that  city.  The  following  are  some 
of  the  things  that  that  Commission  reported:  That  the  vast  majority 
of  Chinese  children  are  made  to  start  work  at  the  earliest  possible 
age,  and  that  industrial  conditions  promote  tuberculosis  among  chil- 
dren. That  many  children  were  seen  at  work  who  could  not  be  more 
than  six  years  old,  and  that  the  hours  of  work  were  generally  twelve, 
with  one  hour  off  for  a meal.  That  the  housing  problem  associated 
with  all  large  cities  is  peculiarly  acute.  That  aggregations  of  people 
have  increased  the  death  rate  and  the  rate  of  infant  mortality  . . . 
have  increased  crime,  and  have  lowered  the  moral  tone  of  the  people 
generally.  (Quoted  by  Paton  in  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  V.) 

13 


Dr.  Harold  Balme  in  his  pamphlet  “What  Is  Happening  in 
China,”  says : “Many  of  the  foreign-owned  mills  of  Shanghai,  which 
have  produced  substantial  dividends  for  their  shareholders  during 
the  past  ten  years,  are  still  employing  child  labor  for  long  hours  per 
day  or  night.  . . . These  foreign-owned  mills  form  but  a small 
percentage  of  the  total,  and  conditions  within  them  . . . are  far 
superior  to  those  to  be  found  in  most  Chinese  industrial  enterprises ; 
but  it  is  impossible  to  gloss  over  the  fact  that  they  are  employing 
labor  under  conditions  that  would  not  be  tolerated  for  a moment  in 
this  country.” 

“The  result  of  the  conditions  of  factory  life  in  Japan  is  that  the 
average  life  of  a girl  in  a factory  is  from  12  to  14  months.” 

These  painful  illustrations  could  be  multiplied  almost  indefinitely. 
Paton  in  “A  Faith  for  the  World,”  sums  up  this:  “The  life  of  the 
factory  is  becoming  familiar  to  the  East  no  less  than  to  the  West. 
The  labor  of  children,  over-crowded  housing,  strikes,  unemployment, 
the  abuse  of  women,  the  diversity  in  wealth  between  the  economic 
classes,  are  all  reproducing  themselves  in  China,  India  and  Japan.” 
And  Basil  Mathews  sums  up  in  his  “Roads  to  the  City  of  God”  in 
these  words : “No  one  who  has  seen  the  women  and  children  working 
in  shifts  up  to  12  hours  a day  for  a miserable  pittance”  in  the  mills 
around  Shanghai,  or  explored  the  dwellings  of  the  industrial  oper- 
ators of  Bombay,  or  investigated  the  slums  of  Kobe  in  Japan,  or 
witnessed  the  corrosion  of  South  Central  African  tribal  life,  through 
the  drawing  of  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  its  youth  from  the 
tribe  into  the  gold  and  diamond  mines,  can  fail  to  see  that  the  Indus- 
trial Revolution  which  had  its  origin  in  the  West,  is  working  moral, 
physical  and  spiritual  ruin  to  multitudes  through  its  remorseless 
mechanical  processes.”  Mr.  Harold  Grimshaw  of  the  International 
Labor  Organization  told  the  Jerusalem  Conference  that  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  facts  made  him  feel  that  Europe  had  exported  miseries 
to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

A Powerful  Cause  of  World  Secularism 

No  wonder  old-established  religions  of  East  suffering  under 
the  pressure  of  this  kind  of  horror,  or  that  observers  report  increase 
of  Russian  Bolshevist  propaganda.  That  gives  Communism  its 
chance.  This  is  destructive  of  all  true  religious  ideals.  Yet  in- 
dustrialism is  not  wholly  bad.  It  is  inevitable  if  the  world  is  to 
maintain  its  present  population  and  much  of  it  very  good.  Gandhi’s 
opposition  to  the  machine  is  natural,  but  futile.  It  is  accompani- 

14 


ments  of  wrongly-motived,  un-Christianized  industrialism  which  are 
so  devastating.  Something  given  by  God  for  enrichment  of  His 
children’s  lives  has  been  misused  by  men  to  minister  to  their  craving 
for  wealth  and  power. 

Some  Conclusions 

A call  to  penitence.  Church  must  share  blame.  We  have 
failed  to  Christianize  industry  in  the  countries  where  it  arose.  “The 
churches  have  left  untouched  much  territory  which  should  have 
been  occupied.  They  tolerate  too  much  that  they  should  attack.” 
(Tawney  in  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report  Vol.  I,  p.  331L) 
Jerusalem  Conference  message  on  Industry  strikes  the  note  of  peni- 
tence. “We  acknowledge  with  shame  and  regret  that  the  churches 
everywhere  . . . have  not  been  so  sensitive  of  these  aspects  of  the 
Christian  message  as  would  have  been  necessary  sensibly  to  mitigate 
the  evils  which  advanced  materialism  has  brought  in  its  train,  and  we 
believe  that  our  failure  in  this  respect  has  been  a positive  hindrance 
. . . to  the  power  and  extension  of  missionary  enterprise.”  (Jer- 
usalem Meeting  Report,  Vol.  V,  p.  144.) 

The  International  Labor  Organization.  Probably  mainly  to  this 
we  must  look  for  progress  toward  goal  of  a minimum  standard  of 
life  for  industrial  workers  the  world  over.  But  the  International 
Labor  Organization  cannot  be  effective  without  informed  public 
opinion.  Mr.  Grimshaw,  who  represented  the  International  Labor 
Organization  at  Geneva,  appealed  to  churches  to  get  the  facts  known, 
and  to  stir  up  Christian  public  opinion  in  all  lands.  (Jerusalem 
Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  306.) 

The  call  to  the  whole  church  everywhere  to  deal  with  Christian- 
izing of  industry.  Christ  is  Lord  of  all  life.  Industry  is  one  of  the 
“unoccupied  fields”  to-day.  We  have  outgrown  the  idea  of  neces- 
sary opposition  between  working  for  individual  conversion  and  work- 
ing for  Christianizing  of  environment.  Old  conflict  between  social 
reform  enthusiasts  and  foreign  missionary  enthusiasts  now  out  of 
date.  All  implicated  in  this.  Can  this  immense  modern  power  of 
machine  industry  so  good  in  the  material  things  it  produces,  be  made 
good  in  its  effects  on  all  engaged  in  it  ? Can  industry  be  so  ordered 
as  to  express  in  its  workings  the  essential  Christian  values,  the 
sacredness  of  every  personality,  the  brotherhood  of  all  who  work  in 
it,  the  care  of  the  weaker  by  the  stronger?  Few  more  urgent  ques- 
tions than  that  before  Christians  of  this  and  next  generation. 

The  call  to  our  own  lives.  We  cannot  demand  that  industry 

15 


shall  work  on  motives  higher  than  those  by  which  we  live.  All  are 
called  to  a more  conscientious  scrutiny  of  our  own  lives  and  the 
values  by  which  we  live.  Are  our  lives  expressing  the  conviction 
that  the  true  meaning  of  life  is  found  not  in  the  abundance  of  things 
we  possess,  but  in  the  service  that  we  render  and  the  love  that  we 
give. 

The  Jerusalem  Conference  message  on  Industry  set  forth  three 
basic  principles  to  be  worked  out  in  both  personal  and  corporate  life, 
(i)  Christ’s  teaching  as  to  sanctity  of  personality;  human  beings  not 
instruments  but  ends;  in  eyes  of  God  all  are  of  equal  and  infinite 
value.  (2)  Christ’s  teaching  as  to  brotherhood;  all  are  brothers  in 
the  one  great  family  of  the  Father,  which  is  as  wride  as  the  world. 
(3)  Christ’s  teaching  as  to  corporate  responsibility;  Christians  are 
called  to  bear  one  another’s  burdens. 

IV.  RELIGION  AND  THE  WORLD-WIDE  UNSETTLING 
OF  MORAL  STANDARDS 
Scripture  reading — Philippians  I,  3-1 1.  IV,  4-9. 

Introduction 

Last  two  sermons  have  discussed  causes  of  rise  of  Secularism. 
This  subject,  Moral  Unsettlement,  partly  cause  and  partly  effect  of 
secular  outlook.  Side  by  side  with  world-wide  decay  of  religious 
interest,  there  has  come  a general  unsettling  of  moral  standards. 
This  does  not  mean  attack  on  morals  of  present  younger  generation. 
The  complaint  that  the  “younger  generation  is  lacking  in  respect  for 
its  elders  and  their  way  of  life’’  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  world. 
Sweeping  denunciations  of  the  post-war  younger  generation  are  no 
part  or  purpose  of  this  sermon. 

The  Situation  in  This  Country 

Obvious  that  many  hitherto  accepted  ideas  and  institutions  now 
being  challenged  and  questioned,  including  moral  standards.  There 
is  new  freedom  in  discussing  questions  of  morality,  especially  in 
regard  to  sex.  Obvious  reaction  against  the  stuffiness  real  or  sup- 
posed of  Victorian  era.  Recognition  that  along  with  much  that  was 
admirable  there  was  much  that  was  hypocritical  in  ethics  of  that  era. 
Serious  people  now  advocating  moral  experiments  which  formerly 
would  hardly  have  been  suggested  except  by  the  depraved.  Less 
willingness  to  accept  code  of  life  on  authority  of  religion  or  custom. 

16 


Present  generation  wants  reasoned  basis  for  its  morals  as  it  wants 
reasoned  basis  for  its  belief.  And  rightly.  Yet  in  many  ways  we 
seem  to  be  living  in  a time  that  has  lost  its  moral  bearing.  Dr.  Car- 
negie Simpson  sums  it  up,  in  a sermon  preached  before  University 
of  Birmingham,  England,  in  these  words:  “Whether  or  not  there  is 
to-day  a deterioration  of  moral  conduct  there  is  certainly  a loosening 
of  moral  principle.  Many  people  who  are  no  less  moral  than  their 
fathers  are  far  from  clear  as  to  why  they  need  be  moral.  The  elder 
generation  had  its  accepted  moral  authorities  and  moral  standards. 
. . . These  are  all  weaker  to-day.  Our  modem  literature  shows 
this.  It  is  practically  assumed  in  most  modern  novels  and  plays  that 
there  is  no  binding  principle  in  morals.” 

Danger 

This  new  questioning  has  not  led  to  any  general  moral  collapse ; 
but  real  danger.  For  a generation  or  two  custom  and  tradition  may 
keep  many  from  grave  breakdown,  but  custom  and  tradition  count 
for  less  and  less  in  modern  world ; morality  of  a people  cannot  long 
rest  on  these  weakening  foundations.  It  will  need  to  be  based 
on  clearly  understood  principles  and  ideals.  If  we  can  rethink  moral 
standards  and  put  principles  in  place  of  traditions  and  taboos  the 
new  attitude  will  lead  not  to  disaster  but  to  progress. 

All  This  Is  World-Wide 

The  above  is  true  of  practically  all  countries  in  what  is  called 
“Christendom.”  But  to-day  no  section  of  world  isolated  ; mental  and 
moral  atmosphere  of  any  one  nation  affects  all.  Evidence  of  similar 
situation  in  Africa  and  the  East  is  not  lacking,  though  perhaps  not 
quite  so  full  of  evidence  for  changes  discussed  in  earlier  sermons. 
Modern  world  conditions  sweeping  away  long  established  moral 
sanctions,  and  putting  nothing  in  place.  Industrialism  is  breaking 
up  tribal  and  family  systems  which  have  sustained  ethical  life  of 
generations.  Scientific  attack  on  crudities  of  other  religions  is  bring- 
ing discredit  on  their  moral  teaching,  even  when  that  is  of  real  value. 
This  is  not  to  say  that  moral  teaching  of  non-Christian  religions  has 
been  as  high  and  true  as  that  of  Jesus.  But  it  did  offer  some  guid- 
ance, some  restraints.  In  changing  conditions  of  to-day  multitudes 
being  left  without  any  ethical  guidance  at  all. 

Some  Guidance 

Dr.  John  R.  Mott,  in  International  Review  of  Missions,  in  1927 
wrote  thus  of  Asia : “There  is  in  Asia,  as  in  many  other  parts  of  the 

1 7 


world,  an  alarming  lowering  of  ethical  standards.  Nothing  is  more 
disconcerting  than  to  find  a whole  generation  so  largely  without 
accepted  guiding  principles.  The  relaxing  of  the  hold  of  the  non- 
Christian  faiths,  without  at  the  same  time  adopting  some  substitute 
for  the  shaping  of  character  and  the  energizing  of  life,  involves  the 
greatest  peril  for  the  new  generation.  . . . Youth  in  particular  is 
examining  all  foundations,  questioning  all  standards  of  authority,  de- 
manding reasons  for  the  preservation  of  the  social  sanctions  of 
centuries.” 

The  well  known  Chinese  Christian  leaders : Dr.  David  Yui 
speaking  of  China  at  the  Jerusalem  Conference,  said:  “Among  the 
great  changes  now  taking  place  in  China,  which  are  decidedly  harm- 
ful, is  the  breaking  down  of  our  moral  sanctions.  Something  should 
be  done  definitely  and  early  to  uphold  those  moral  principles  which 
are  of  permanent  value,  and  also  to  add  to  them  those  that  are  neces- 
sary to  modern  life.”  And  Dr.  T.  Z.  Koo,  speaking  in  January, 
1929,  said  of  China,  “Old  standards  of  morality  are  beginning  to 
topple  down.”  See  also  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  62, 
where  a Chinese  Confucianist,  the  head  of  Amoy  University,  writes 
“Is  it  not  possible  for  the  Christian  missions,”  etc. 

Writing  in  “Voices  from  the  Near  East,”  a modern  Greek 
Christian  has  said  some  interesting  things  about  his  part  of  the 
world.  “There  is  a spirit  of  revolt  seen  in  our  civic  life,  in  com- 
munity activities,  in  social  relationships,  in  schools  and  churches  and 
families.  The  attitude  of  our  youth  to  men  in  authority  has  alto- 
gether changed.  ...  In  the  churches  people  are  making  light  of 
the  commands  of  the  priest.  In  the  family  irreverence  is  shown  to 
. . . . parental  commands.  . . . Moral  laxity  has  grown  very- 
much  among  the-people.  The  West  has  begun  to  influence  the  East, 
but  in  what  terrible  ways.” 

See  also  the  quotation  from  West  Africa  given  in  Sermon  I. 

General  Conclusions 

These  quotations  describe  a grave  situation ; possibility  of  an 
unprecedented  breakdown  of  world’s  moral  standards.  Note  that 
in  a world  so  unified  as  this  now  is,  moral  tone  is  infectious.  East 
and  West  MAY  help  one  another  down.  Serious  moral  collapse  in 
East  will  make  strong  ethical  life  more  difficult  for  our  own  country. 
“We  are  members  one  of  another.”  Yet  some  elements  in  this  situa- 
tion are  good.  The  questioning  spirit,  with  longing  for  freedom  and 
fulness  of  life,  better  than  mere  traditional  acquiescence.  We  cannot 

18 


do  battle  for  religion  and  morality  by  merely  opposing  this  new 
spirit;  nor  can  we  dragoon  it.  We  can  try  to  guide  it  with  its  own 
consent. 

What  Has  the  Christian  Church  to  Give? 

Nothing  will  meet  the  ethical  needs  of  this  official  world  short 
of  a single  universal  moral  standard.  For  that  there  is  in  the  field 
no  serious  rival  to  Jesus.  In  historical  character  of  Jesus  we  have 
the  world’s  greatest  moral  asset.  Our  task  is  to  lift  Him  up  that 
He  may  make  His  own  appeal  to  men. 

One  or  two  suggestions  as  to  how  Jesus  meets  the  needs  of  this 

age. 

1.  He  gives  men  not  detailed  rules  but  an  attitude  to  life.  “Make 
the  tree  good.”  He  does  not  give  regulations  which  can  be  applied 
mechanically,  by  rule  of  thumb,  but  great  guiding  principles  which 
have  to  be  thoughtfully  applied  to  needs  of  every  new  generation. 
Moral  progress  comes  through  painstaking  effort  to  apply  His  teach- 
ings to  ever  new  conditions.  He  will  not  save  us  trouble  of  think- 
ing. Even  conscience  not  a sure  guide  unless  trained  by  thought 
on  moral  issues.  So  Jesus  meets  needs  of  those  who  want  to  under- 
stand the  principles  of  the  good  life,  who  want  reasoned  basis  for 
conduct.  Much  good  work  being  done  to-day  in  thinking  out 
more  Christian  standards  of  conduct  in  matters  of  sex,  industry, 
use  of  money,  our  penal  system,  and  so  on.  Jesus  never  thought  of 
morality  as  a matter  of  tradition  and  custom.  He  called  for  thought, 
experiment,  adventure. 

2.  Jesus  looked  on  moral  conduct  not  as  something  imposed 
from  without,  but  as  something  discerned  from  within.  He  does  not 
assert  this  or  that  as  good  on  bare  external  authority.  He  opens 
men’s  eyes  to  see  the  good,  so  that  they  long  to  follow  it.  His  aim 
is  to  make  of  us  free,  self-directing  moral  personalities,  who  have 
trained  and  can  use  our  own  insight.  So  Jesus  meets  the  needs  of 
those  who  are  suspicious  of  external  authority,  by  offering  them  an 
inward  vision  which  will  constrain  them  willingly  and  with  their  own 
consent.  This  age  longs  for  freedom,  but  freedom  not  gained  by 
getting  rid  of  restraint.  Only  gained  when  we  substitute  inward 
self-control  for  outward  authoritative  prohibitions. 

3.  His  main  appeal  was  positive,  not  negative.  “Thou  shalt” 
rather  than  “Thou  shalt  not.”  It  was  based  not  on  men’s  fear,  but 
on  men’s  chivalry.  Not  “Don’t  do  this  lest  you  suffer  for  it,”  but 

19 


“Do  and  be  this  that  you  may  cooperate  with  God  in  the  service  of 
men.” 

4.  Jesus’  greatest  contribution  to  ethics  not  what  He  taught 
but  what  He  was.  His  life  greater  than  His  teachings.  He  has  shown 
us  what  human  life  can  be  made,  in  fellowship  with  God.  (See  Je- 
rusalem Message,  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  401-402.) 
Especially  “Our  message  is  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  the  revelation  of 
what  God  is,  and  of  what  men  through  Him  may  become.”  Con- 
science is  educated,  sensitized  by  being  kept  in  close  contact  with 
HIM.  He  shows  us  the  truly  good  life  not  by  talking  about  it  but 
by  living  it.  Lifted  up,  He  makes  his  own  appeal  to  men.  Next 
sermon  will  illustrate  something  of  the  way  His  character  is  appeal- 
ing to  many  sorts  of  people.  There  may  be  some  things  in  our 
moral  ideal  which  we  cannot  fully  think  out,  and  of  which  all  we 
say  is  something  like  this : “I  don’t  know  why  that  is  good,  but  I 
have  lived  it  out  in  Jesus,  and  when  I am  at  my  best  that  commands 
my  assent.” 

These  a few  of  the  ways  in  which  Jesus  meets  needs  of  this 
present  day,  both  East  and  West.  See  John  VI,  66-68. 

V.  THE  WORLD-WIDE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  TASK  OF 
THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 

(Read  Jerusalem  Meeting  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  260-273.) 

The  Oneness  of  the  World 

Facts  surveyed  in  previous  outlines  may  suggest  that  world  is 
an  awful  mess;  but  at  any  rate  they  suggest  that  different  parts  of 
world  all  in  same  mess.  In  each  of  four  previous  outlines  illustra- 
tions drawn  from  all  parts  of  world,  from  all  sorts  of  religions,  from 
life  of  men  of  all  colours.  Remarkable  similarity  in  problems  facing 
different  races  and  nations ; the  same  influences  are  at  work  all 
around  the  globe.  In  the  main  the  Jerusalem  Meeting  did  not  find 
one  set  of  problems  in  China,  another  in  India,  another  in  Near  East; 
rather  it  found  one  set  of  problems  common  to  all.  This  growing 
unity  of  ideas,  or  currents  of  thought,  all  over  the  world,  one  of 
striking  facts  of  present  day. 

How  It  Has  Come 

The  whole  trend  of  modem  life  has  been  to  draw  the  ends  of 
the  earth  together,  physically,  economically,  intellectually.  The  de- 
velopment of  steam  and  electricity,  the  growth  of  modern  industry, 


20 


the  invasion  of  East  by  Western  modes  of  thought,  all  these  in 
countless  ways  have  been  forcing  the  different  parts  of  the  world 
into  closer  and  closer  contact,  conquering  time  and  distance  and  isola- 
tion, breaking  down  independence  and  separation,  forcing  interdepen- 
dence on  the  world.  All  this  can  be  made  vivid  by  illustration  from 
wireless  and  aeroplanes;  from  the  immense  variety  of  nations  and 
races  whose  cooperation  is  needed  to  produce  the  things  an  average 
American  uses  every  day;  from  the  inter-continental  ramification  of 
big  business,  e.  g.  the  cotton  trade.  Independence  for  any  group  or 
class  or  nation  to-day  is  an  impossibility.  This  is  one  reason  why 
the  last  war  was  so  much  more  upsetting  to  the  life  of  world  than 
previous  wars.  This  interlocking  is  still  going  on. 

A World  Religion 

In  such  a world  as  this,  it  seems  evident  that  if  there  is  to  be 
religion  at  all  it  must  be  one  universal  religion.  When  science,  in- 
dustry, political  thought,  know  no  frontiers,  religion  cannot  know 
frontiers  either.  Old  idea  that  one  sort  of  religion  suitable  for  West, 
and  others  for  East  is  out  of  date  as  hoop  skirts.  Truth  is  truth  for 
all  thinking  men.  Only  a religion  which  takes  the  whole  world  as 
its  parish  can  to-day  meet  the  needs  of  any  parish  in  the  world. 

The  New  Interest  in  Jesus 

Many  things  confirm  our  faith  that  only  in  Jesus  Christ  can  the 
modern  world  possibly  find  a universal  religion.  It  is  of  immense 
interest  and  hope  to  see  how  sensitive  men  in  many  parts  of  world 
are  turning  to  Jesus  in  wholly  new  way.  Not  that  people  are  crowd- 
ing into  Christian  church.  The  church  is  growing,  but  also  in  many 
quarters  Jesus  is  winning  the  interest  of  many  who  will  not  take  an 
interest  in  the  church.  Many  remarkable  testimonies  to  this.  Gandhi, 
the  most  popular  leader  of  modern  India,  speaks  often  of  Jesus  and 
acknowledges  debt  to  Sermon  on  Mount.  Dr.  Stanley  Jones  says 
Hindus  and  Mohammedans  in  India  speak  of  Gandhi  as  “Christ- 
like,’’  the  highest  praise  they  know.  He  tells  of  how  one  Hindu 
said  to  him,  “There  is  no  one  else  who  is  seriously  bidding  for1  the 
heart  of  the  world  except  Jesus  Christ.”  And  of  how  a Hindu  Pro- 
fessor of  History  in  an  Indian  University  said  to  him,  “My  study  of 
modern  history  has  shown  me  that  there  is  a Moral  Pivot  in  the 
world  to-day,  and  that  the  best  life  of  both  East  and  West  is  more 
and  more  revolving  about  that  centre.  That  Moral  Pivot  is  the  Per- 
son of  Jesus  Christ.” 


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For  testimony  from  the  Moslem  World,  see  Jerusalem  Meeting 
Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  197.  Mr.  Mackay,  a missionary  in  South  America, 
speaking  to  the  Jerusalem  Meeting  of  that  difficult  field,  said,  “Jesus 
has  no  serious  rival.  . . . Men  are  looking  to  Him  in  such  a way 
that  Christians  have  a greater  responsibility  than  ever  before  to  share 
Him.”  Speaking  at  Jerusalem  of  the  great  Jewish  population  in  Cen- 
tral Europe,  Dr.  Black  of  Edinburgh  said,  “What  most  impresses  me 
is  the  new  opportunity  for  Christ  among  this  moving  and  enquiring 
people,  who  have  been  so  shut  off  from  Christian  cultured  influences 
for  centuries.  This  movement  toward  enquiry  regarding  Christ  has 
been  massive  in  Central  Europe.”  Dr.  Black  also  told  the  following 
incident:  “Sir  Leon  Levison,  himself  a converted  Jew,  was  asked 
to  meet  some  Jewish  business  men  in  Budapest,  who  wanted  to  know 
why  he,  a Jew,  had  become  a Christian.  He  expected  two  or  three 
to  turn  up,  but  found  about  ninety-five  doctors,  lawyers,  professors, 
and  men  of  business,  coming  to  meet  him,  and  they  kept  him  till  one 
a.  m.  asking  questions  about  what  he  had  found  in  Christ.”  For  a 
summing  up  of  this  remarkable  fact  of  the  modern  world,  see  the 
Jerusalem  statement  on  the  Christian  message,  the  paragraph  begin- 
ning, “In  this  world,  bewildered.  . . .”  (Jerusalem  Meeting  Re- 
port, Vol.  I,  p.  401.) 

The  Purpose  of  God 

The  moral  character  of  the  historical  Jesus  is  more  and  more 
impressing  thoughtful  people  the  world  over.  Further,  it  is  the 
revelation  of  God  and  of  human  life  which  Jesus  brought  that  makes 
sense  of,  and  gives  meaning  to,  the  facts  we  have  surveyed.  In  the 
light  of  Jesus  what  does  it  all  mean?  It  is  the  will  of  God  the 
Father  that  there  should  be  on  earth  a world-wide  Kingdom,  where 
all  men  respect  and  love  one  another  as  brothers  in  His  family.  The 
facts  of  modern  world  mean  that  the  Father  God  is  preparing  the 
way  for  the  realizing  on  earth  of  this  Kingdom  of  brotherhood.  Not 
that  the  Christian  message  of  the  Father  and  the  brothers  is  any 
more  true  to-day  than  it  was  five  hundred  or  a thousand  years  ago. 
But  that  the  working  out  of  (that  on  a world  scale  is  becoming  much 
more  possible  and  much  more  urgent.  Modern  forces  are  drawing 
the  whole  world  closer  together.  Thus  the  facts  mentioned  in  second 
paragraph  of  this  outline  have  a spiritual  meaning.  We  have  too 
easily  accepted  the  modern  economic  and  intellectual  inter-depen- 
dence, without  seeking  for  the  underlying  spiritual  significance.  God 
has  given  our  day  and  generation  great  gifts  meant  for  the  building 


22 


of  His  Kingdom,  and  we  have  too  often  used  them  for  selfish  and 
destructive  purposes.  . . . e.  g.  aeroplanes  and  poison  gas.  Hence 
much  of  our  present  trouble.  That  we  arc  members  one  of  another 
is  not  a beautiful  ideal  but  a fact.  The  different  races  of  the  world 
are  inextricably  linked  together ; they  cannot  pursue  their  separate 
lives  without  reference  to  one  another;  they  are  forced  to  live 
together.  Jesus  points  to  the  inner  meaning  of  this,  and  therefore  to 
the  only  way  of  making  a success  of  present  day  conditions.  We  are 
brothers  in  the  Father’s  family.  The  Father  is  making  possible  the 
Kingdom  which  is  a family  kind  of  life  as  wide  as  the  world.  Unless 
we  learn  to  respect  and  serve  one  another  as  brethren  we  shall  inev- 
itably bring  disaster  upon  world.  By  making  a world-wide  applica- 
tion of  this  possible,  God  has  made  it  urgently  important.  “The 
King’s  business  requireth  haste.”  The  God  revealed  by  Jesus  is 
working  His  purposes  out,  and  is  calling  on  us  to  cooperate  with 
Him.  Jesus  is  the  key  to  modern  conditions.  The  forces  of  the 
modern  world  are  calling  us  back  to  Him  to  learn  afresh  His  way  of 
life. 

The  Christian  Fellowship 

Since  God  is  working  this  kind  of  purpose  out,  it  is  of  great 
significance  that  there  is  already  in  being  an  international,  inter- 
racial Christian  Fellowship.  “The  Holy  Church  throughout  all  the 
world”  (an  immense  exaggeration  though  a great  vision  when  Te 
Deurn  was  written)  is  now  a fact.  The  Jerusalem  Meeting  repre- 
sented this  Fellowship.  Delegates  from  the  non-Roman  Churches 
in  fifty  different  lands ; membership  of  over  208  of  whom,  roughly 
one-third,  were  what  we  call  “coloured  people.”  Many  members  of 
meeting  greatly  impressed  with  the  way  in  which  “coloured”  Chris- 
tian leaders  from  China,  Japan,  Africa,  India,  took  part  on  equal 
terms  with  Christian  leaders  from  Europe  and  America  in  discussing 
common  interests  of  God’s  work.  We  now  know  what  missionary 
pioneers  of  beginning  of  19th  century  could  only  believe  that  there  is 
no  nation  under  heaven  where  men  and  women  cannot  find  fulness 
of  life  and  grace  for  all  of  life’s  needs  in  Jesus  Christ.  We  have 
seen  that  which  John  on  Patmos  dreamed  of,  a great  multitude 
gathered  from  every  kindred  and  tongue  and  people  and  nation  wor- 
shiping the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain.  We  have  learned  possibility 
of  cooperation  between  men  and  women  of  different  races  in  the 
work  of  world-wide  Kingdom  of  God.  The  world-wide  enterprise 
of  the  Christian  Church  no  longer  rightly  described  as  “Foreign 

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Missions.”  In  such  an  international  fellowship  the  word  “foreign” 
has  no  meaning.  The  world  mission  of  the  church  is  no  longer  to 
be  thought  of  as  a supposedly  Christian  West  evangelizing  a heathen 
East.  The  legend  of  the  supposedly  Christian  West  is  dead.  To-day 
the  older  churches  of  the  West  join  hands  with  the  younger  churches 
of  the  East  in  striving  to  make  Jesus  Christ  Lord  of  every  man  and 
of  every  department  of  human  life,  in  London  and  Calcutta,  in  New 
York  and  Pekin.  Every  land  has  its  “unoccupied  territories”  and 
they  are  no  longer  geographical.  There  are  parts  of  life  in  every 
land  still  to  be  won  for  Christ:  there  is  a Mission  Field  in  every 
country. 

Conclusion 

We  have  had  in  mind  through  all  these  outlines  the  world-wide 
menace  of  a purely  secular  view  of  life.  But  the  real  strength  of 
secularism  does  not  lie  in  any  argument  against  religion,  or  any 
intellectual  criticism  of  the  spiritual  life  in  the  hearts  of  men.  “The 
one  great  foe  of  naturalism  is  faiith,  its  undying  antagonist  in  the 
great  duel  of  time.”  Some  words  which  Mr.  Cairns  spoke  to  the 
Edinburgh  Missionary  Conference  in  1910  are  still  valid  today. 
“We  have  before  this  present  generation  one  of  the  greatest  perils 
and  one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  of  human  history.  Early 
Christianity  faced  a similar  hour  when  it  came  out  of  its  mountain 
home  in  Judea  into  a world  in  which  the  old  faiths  were  dying  or 
dead,  and  from  the  first  it  grasped  the  truth  that  its  mission  was  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  world  of  dying  faiths  and  decadent 
moralities  and  so  to  live  its  own  life  that  through  the  church  the 
Spirit  might  have  free  course  to  fashion  a new  humanity.  As  com- 
pared with  the  numbers,  the  resources,  the  organization  of  the  church 
today,  the  church  of  old  was  but  a feeble  thing  when  it  ventured 
forth  into  the  great  arena  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  win  it  for  God. 
But  in  quality,  in  its  faith  in  God,  in  Christ,  in  the  Spirit,  in  the 
power  of  prayer,  in  its  love  and  its  unity,  its  life  was  of  a nobler 
tone.”  The  Internatonal  Christian  Church  of  today,  faced  with  a 
tremendous  situation  of  peril  and  opportunity,  is  inevitably  called  to 
a deeper  level  of  disciplined  and  consecrated  Christian  living,  a far 
fuller  and  more  faithful  life  of  prayer,  a richer  experience  of  the 
resources  of  God.  The  whole  church,  West  as  well  as  East,  is  being 
driven  back  to  a new  discovery  of  the  power  of  God  for  this  chal- 
lenge. And  in  that  we  all  have  a part  to  play. 


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